Comeback falls short In Vols' 85-80 loss

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The Vols made a furious comeback in the second half, but were unable to overcome a 21-point deficit and fell to Memphis 85-80 before 19,535 at Thompson-Boling Arena.Memphis (10-3) was on fire from floor most of the night as the Tigers shot 56.4 while the Vols (8-4) battled to cut the deficit to just four with less than a minute left. But the Vols were unable to overcome the steep margin.

Junior Jordan McRae had his best game of the season and tallied a career-best 26. He was one of four scorers in double-figures. Josh Richardson also had a career-high with 20 points. Richardson tied his career high with nine boards.

Down by as many as 21 with 14:04 left in regulation, the Vols mounted a comeback which started midway though the second half. McRae canned back-to-back 3-pointers followed by a Richardson jumper to cut the deficit to 13 at 62-49 with 10:38 left.McRae's fourth 3-pointer of the half -- with 9:20 left -- cut the margin to 10, 64-54, at the 9:20 mark.

The Vols sliced it to eight on a Richardson jumper that was goaltended with 7:35 left in the game, making it 66-58. The margin shrunk to six on Hall's layup with 6:47 left. After a 3-pointer by Johnson, Stokes answered with a bucket -- that was goaltended again -- with just over six minutes left.

After Hall drew his second charge of the game, the Vols continued to chip away, Stokes put home a putback for a 69-64 score. But, Memphis responded as Johnson canned another 3-pointer.

The Tigers regained a double-figure lead on Shaq Goodwin's 3-point play with 2:48 left at 77-66. Richardson, who had missed a dunk prior to Goodwin's and-one, gained a measure of redemption with a 3-pointer at the mark.

Richardson hit hit back-to-back buckets to cut the deficit to four at 79-75 with 46 seconds left. That was the closest score since UT trailed 23-19 with 5:28 left in the first half.

The Vols couldn't get any closer as they continued to push. Richardson hit a 3-pointer with 7.7 left and McRae hit a runner for the Vols' final bucket.

The loss was Tennessee's first of the season at home after winning the first six. It was also the Vols' first regular-season home loss in 13 contests dating to last season.

Memphis expanded its lead to 20 on a 3-point play by Jackson three minutes into the second half, giving the Tigers a 51-31 advantage. The largest lead of 21 came by virtue of a 3-pointer from Thomas with just over 14 minutes left in the game.

Memphis led 42-28 at halftime.

Tennessee struggled early on as the Vols shot just 27.6 in the first half, making only 8-of-29 shots from the floor. On the flip side, Memphis was blistering from the floor, making 64 percent (16-of-25).Memphis took a 34-23 lead on a jumper by Chris Crawford with 2:46 left in the half as the Tigers scored on six consecutive possessions.The lead ballooned to 15 at 42-27 on a 3-pointer by Antonio Barton with 1:06 left in the half. The Tigers scored on 10 of their final 12 possessions of the half.

The Vols were down by eight early on as Memphis took a 13-5 lead in the first 6:30.

Tennessee debuted new adidas orange-on-orange uniforms for its "#OrangeOut." It was just the fifth time the Vols wore orange in a home game in history.

The Vols finish their season-long six-game homestand as they open their 2013 SEC schedule. Ole Miss comes to Thompson-Boling Arena next Wednesday, Jan. 9 for an 8 p.m. tip-off. That game airs on the SEC Network and can be heard on the Vol Network.

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